A Flashback to New York

By Karlijn Hartveld - 12:56:00

The big apple. It was a dream of mine that came true already two years ago! Today I will show you the touristic spots you can not miss!

November 2013. I graduated for high school in the summer and my dad promised me to visit New York. We flew from Schiphol airport to JFK airport. Immediately the rules were so strict. They needed to know why I was in America and if the man I was with really was my father. It was kinda funny. After that we, of course, took a yellow cap to our hotel in the centre of New York. The sky was blue and the sun was shining although it was pretty cold.

So some advice I would like to give you is to book your trip out of the season. And book it very soon. We waited a little longer to get our flight tickets and the price literally went up from 400 to 600 per ticket. For a solid price of 300-400 you can have a good hotel room in a safe neighborhood for almost a week. So your trip does not have to cost much and you still have luxury.

Our hotel was in the Korean neighborhood. The Empire State Building was around the corner and so were the shops/malls. A Victoria Secret was on every street which I found amazing, and how cheap it was. The difference in rate of the euro against the dollar is now not that big, but when I was there I saved a lot of money. You could buy an iPad for 60 euros less. It is also an advantage to book your trip around black friday sales!

Besides all the shopping we did a lot of sightseeing. We visited the big touristic attractions like Rockefeller Center, Empire State Building, the Liberty statue, Times Square, Central Park, Madison Square Garden, the 9/11 Memorial and the Chinese/Italian neighborhoods. We visited the Rockefeller Center at night and the Empire State Building at day, so we had both sights. They are both high towers with a great view. To see all the lights over New York was amazing, but by light you could recognize everything. 9/11 was pretty impressive. The day we visited it there was a corps present to memorize a fallen soldier. Central Park is also a must. You can ice skate in the winter season, but there are also squirrels to feed. They are not afraid of you. You have the famous FRIENDS fountain and Imagine 'grave' of John Lennon.

Oh and we did not visit the liberty statue up close, we just took the ferry from one side to the other. That is for free, so that is another tip to save a lot of money!

Very delicious Chinese supplements as you can see on her face! ;)

Then the food. I was in love. In the morning pancakes and at night loads of choices. In every restaurant they ask if you want a doggie bag when you are finished. Something they should get in the Netherlands. If you were not able to eat all of your ordered food you can bring it home. The last day we decided to eat in a theme restaurant, you have many of them.

The staff in every shop or whatever are so nice. And everything is so large! When you order a small milkshake at McDonald's you literally get a large one. Also the candy and meals. I became a real fatty after this trip. Oh and another thing the American like to do, put peanut butter in stuff. M&M's, snickers and those kinds of chocolates. You have to visit a play or candy store. The one at Times Square is the best. It even has a ferris wheel inside.

I hope I'd gave you a good look at this amazing city.
Let me know what your favorite spots are!